Cricket

3 days ago

The best $10 in Australian sports history: The Boxing Day Test lived up to all the fervour

By Tom Morris

Image

You won’t get better value for money than the $10 ticket you purchased to the MCG today.

If you want an advertisement for the longest form of the game, this was it.

A rollicking, see-sawing, utterly glorious contest which had more ups and downs than a game of snakes and ladders.

Ultimately Australia got the ladder and India got the snake. In the last 21 overs after tea, Australia took 7-34.

They turned a possible success into a rip-roaring victory punctuated by strategic wins and famous moments which will live on in Boxing Day Test folklore.

Rishabh Pant’s shot was inexcusable, but that’s how these things start. First there is a sniff, then there is a smell, and finally there is a giant whiff of something truly special.

His shots across two knocks were eyebrow raising. Yes Bazball etc etc, but this is still Test cricket. And his dismissals hurt the visitors immensely.

Australia has not won a Test like this at home since Michael Clarke spun the hosts to victory in Sydney 16 years ago.

On that evening at the SCG, as there was this afternoon at the MCG, every fielder was in a catching position.

At one stage, four of them had helmets on, such was their close proximity to the bat.

Given the forecast in Sydney, it was important Australia had the draw on their side. Now India must make the running with poor weather around.

India, let’s not forget, have won just one of their most recent seven Tests. They have match-winners, but evidently not match savers. They have more passengers than Australia, and that's saying something.

Virat Kohli’s shot was irresponsible in the circumstances and a continuation of a problem that is acutely plaguing him: Ego.

All Australia does these days is hang it out there and wait for the fading champion to bite.

Rohit Sharma simply cannot keep his place if India is serious, and Nitish Reddy has to bat higher.

Consider the diametrically opposed influence of both captains. Pat Cummins was man of the match, made more runs than he ever has in a single Test, and tactically hit every note.

Sharma not only continues to fail with the bat, he upset KL Rahul's momentum by pushing him down a spot.

Australia is not flawless themselves, but the fact they have managed to win two of the last three Tests despite Jasprit Bumrah running ragged speaks to the resilience of Cummins’ XI.

Marnus Labuschagne is still not at his best, but grafted consecutive 70s. Scott Boland comes in and takes six wickets for the game - and six different Indian batters - to illustrate his value.

You can see why Boland faced 213 balls for Victoria 11 years ago in one innings. Like Clint Eastwood in the 1973 film Magnum Force, he knows his limitations.

And Nathan Lyon, who has appeared gentle for much of the summer, lifted when it matters most.

When you break it down, all you want from your finger spinner in Australian conditions is to hold and end in the first innings and wrap things up in the second.

Lyon did this, finishing with five victims for the match, the most precious of which was Reddy for 1 late on day five.

Oh, we almost forgot: Snicko giveth and Snicko taketh away.

It wouldn’t be a true grandstand finish without a diplomatic emergency between two modern day rivals.

Unfortunately for India, the third umpire was right. And whatever grievances the tourists have, they should take off their Indian coloured glasses.

Snicko is a guide. Sadly, it always has been. Occasionally it’s not conclusive when the ball comes off the face of the bat. It’s a noise detector, not a nick detector. Its name belies this truth.

The MCG ground staff also deserve praise. Since the Ashes debacle of 2017, there have been seven straight results here.

This pitch was close to perfect. There were enough runs, help for the seamers and above all the contest was tense throughout.

And while the Border-Gavaskar trophy is Australia's immediate focus, joining South Africa in the World Test Championship Final in eight months is now just one win away, and the Aussies have three Tests to achieve that solitary victory.

The cricketing legacies of Cummins, Starc, Khawaja, Smith, Lyon and to a lesser extent Labuschagne depended on a positive result at the MCG.

They got it.

This was as gripping as it was significant. Onto Sydney we go.